Worry and Sorrow
by Elraralia
Summary: [ONE-SHOT FIC] With Aragorn away, Arwen clings to her faith.


NOTE: This is going to be a short one, I just felt like I had to write this. It's based more on the movie than the book, to reduce my worry of making mistakes. So there you go. It's also inspired by a song in the soundtrack of The Two Towers (Evenstar).

*&*

She never watched the morning rising,  
Too busy with the days first chores.  
But oft she would watch the sun's fading,  
As the cold of night swept across the moors.  
And in that moment she felt the loss,  
Of everything that had been missed.  
So used to feeling the spirit sink,  
She had not felt her own heart's wish.  
~ Evenstar, TTT soundtrack

*&*

I sat in the gardens of Rivendell, the beautiful realm of my father, Lord Elrond. Before me were the trees, old but sturdy, stretching their branches around our homes protectively, and clusters of dead leaves lay at their roots, remnants of memories. Flowers grew here and there. I looked ahead of me, but I saw not the flowers, or the trees, or the homes of my fellow kindred. My eyes now cared only for the one who held my heart.

I thought back to the day the Fellowship left Rivendell, when he had tried to convince me that it had only been a dream. He said the words, but his eyes betrayed him. And I knew him too well. After all the long years, he would not waken from this dream. We would both dwell in the dream forever, together until death wrenched us apart. I knew that my father had spoken to him. A small frown creased my forehead for an instant. Adar loved me, and held me close to his heart, but he could not save me. Not this time. It was no one's fault that my heart was moved by Aragorn, and I had chosen. It was not something that anyone could understand. How could anyone understand the love I felt, how could anyone understand my choice, save myself?

Things looked dark. The Ring, the weapon of the Enemy, was somewhere in the wilderness, in the hands of Frodo, a little Hobbit. Even in Rivendell I knew that the power of Sauron was growing, and that the freedom of Middle Earth was balancing very dangerously at the edge of the cliff. Just a wrong move would bring disaster to us all. I watched my father lose hope. Everyday I saw the worry in his eyes, though I did not know if it was worry for me, or worry for the fate of the Ring. He had looked at me so sadly just the day before, for a moment I felt a tinge of guilt for making him worry so much for me. My father had gone through much in his lifetime, and I knew that he still missed my mother very much, but one day he would see her again, when he made his last journey.

I sighed, knowing that I would never see my mother again, try as Adar might to make me take a ship to Valinor. No matter how dangerous things were, how dark the future looked, I could still see the glimmer of hope, no matter how faint. And I knew that he could see it too. In my heart I knew that the Valar were watching over us, and there would always be hope. I did not fear the loneliness I would have to face when he died, as long as I could see him once more. That was all I asked, and nothing more. There was a great chance that what I asked would be granted. Whatever chance had brought us together had not done so for things to end in sadness and despair. That was what I believed in with all my heart, what I could not allow myself to doubt.

My mind was always with Aragorn, and I could feel it, somehow, when he was in danger. He was in no danger now. Where he was, I was unclear, but from the little that my father said, I guessed that he was no longer with Frodo. The road had forked, now, and they had parted, taking the paths they were fated to take. Aragorn had another task now, and he was uncertain. He had always been uncertain about it, and at times my father had to convince him. I smiled sadly to myself. Aragorn underestimated himself too much at times, but I believed that he would do whatever was required of him, and that gave me more hope. My faith in him was undying, and it was what I clung to in the dark, cold nights.

"Arwen."

I turned to see my father standing behind me, but said nothing to him. What could I say to him? My choice was something that he would have to come to accept, and there would be no comfort for him, to leave me behind when he went to the Undying Lands. There was never comfort for a father when he had to lose his child.

Adar came to sit next to me, and he seemed contented to say nothing. I felt the worry in his mind, the worry that haunted him every day, every hour. "We have to have faith, Adar," I said softly, turning to him. "It is the only way we can help, now."

He smiled at me, that bittersweet smile coupled with the great sadness in his eyes. In his heart he understood, but I knew he would try again and again to make me go to the Undying Lands, and that he would try again and again to "save" me. My dear father. Slowly he stood, and held his hand out for me. "Come, Arwen. It is getting late."

*&*

NOTE: Okay, I'm done with Arwen's POV. Now it is the POV of another elf in Rivendell, but still on the same situation. This elf will remain nameless.

*&*

I watched father and daughter leave the gardens of Rivendell, and could not suppress a sigh. A great sadness covered the two, and there would be no helping them. Poor Lord Elrond had been through much, and he had suffered. To be parted from his wife, never knowing when he would finally be able to take a ship to Valinor. And now to be losing his daughter.

Lady Arwen suffered as well, having given her heart to a mortal man. The story of Beren and Luthién had been filled with sorrow and troubles, and the same was happening in the story of Aragorn and Arwen. I shook my head. I had always thought it unwise for an Elf to fall in love with a Man, but now I understood that love was not a choice, but something that came over you, something that caught you unawares. However, I would never be able to understand the feelings of Arwen.

It saddened all of us to see the suffering of both father and daughter, and all we could do was hope that all would turn out as well as it could in the end. Some of us prayed and asked the Valar to watch over Aragorn, for Arwen's sake.

This sorrow was borne by Elrond and Arwen, but felt by all of us. The Elves were powerless against this, and so we did what we could. We hoped.

*&*

NOTE: Okay, so how's this? I love the story of Aragorn and Arwen, it's such a beautiful love story.


End file.
